Jewelry clasp

ABSTRACT

A clasp for jewelry or the like comprising a receptor and a spring clip. The spring clip has at least one integral spring finer which is directly angularly upward and is adapted to form a locking engagement with an integral vertically downwardly directed stop member on the receptor. A release member extends transversely across the receptor and is mounted for sliding longitudinal movement within a pair of aligned horizontal slots formed in opposite sides of the receptor. The release member is movable to depress the spring finger and release it from its locking engagement with the stop member of the receptor.

United States Patent [1 1 Gray [451 Nov. 19, 1974 JEWELRY CLASP [76]Inventor: Ernest F. Gray, 3246 San Amadeo,

Apt-0, Laguna Hills, Calif. 92653 22 Filed: Dec. 17, 1973. 21 Appl.No.;'42s,213

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.296,069, Oct. I0,

1972, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl 24/230 SC, 24/230 F [51] Int. Cl A44b 17/00 [58] Field ofSearch 24/230 SL,'230 SC, 230 F, 24/230 B, 230 CF [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,08l,606 5/1937 Sorkind 24/230 SC FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS l34,432 l0/l929 Great Britain ..24/230 CF PrimaryExaminer-Bernard A. Gelak Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert C. Comstock 57] ABSTRACT the stop member of the receptor.

7 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures JEWELRY CLASP REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No.296,069 filed Oct. 10, 1972, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The inventionrelates to a clasp which is particularly adapted for use with articlesof jewelry such as bracelets, necklaces, watch bands and the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous jewelry clasps of various typesare now in use, but almost all of them have the common fault that theywill accidentally become open or released. This occurs particularly whenpressure is inadvertently exerted upon the clasp through accidentalengagement with a portion of the body, an article of clothing or aforeign object of any kind. If the clasp is inadvertently released, avaluable article of jewelry may become lost or damaged.

For this reason auxiliary fastening devices are often employed such assafety chains and the like. This is inconvenient to the wearer, since itmeans that two separate fastening devices must be operated each time thearticle is worn or removed. The auxiliary devices themselves are alsolikely to become entagled with articles of clothing and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention isto provide a jewelry clasp which is safe and sure in use and which willnot become inadvertently opened or released, regardless of anyaccidental engagement which may occur between the clasp and the body ofthe wearer, an article of clothing or any other object whatsoever.

Another object of the invention is'to provide such a clasp which isextremely simple in its structure, so that it can be manufactured andsold at a reasonable price for widespread use.

If formed of precious metal, the clasp is economical because it requiresonly a minimum amount of material.

A further object is to provide a clasp of the type described which issimple, sure and foolproof to lock and to release, so that it can beoperated easily and without 7 a preferred embodiment of the invention,it should be understood that the same is susceptible of modification andchange without departing from the spirit of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a firstpreferred embodiment of a jewelry clasp constructed in accordance withthe invention, with the clasp in fully closed position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the same;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on line 4-4of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, with the release member and springfingers in released position;

FIG. 6 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view showing the parts ofthe clasp separated from each other;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a second preferred embodiment, with theclasp in fully closed position;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 9 is an end elevational view of the same;

FIG.- 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on linel0l0 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10, with the release member and springfinger in released position;

FIG. 12 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view showing the parts ofthe clip separated from each other.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1-6 of thedrawings, a first preferred embodiment which has been selected toillustrate the invention comprises a receptor 10, which is adapted to beattached to the end of a bracelet, necklace or other member which is tobe removably fastened together. A spring clip 11 is adapted to beattached to the other end. The spring clip 11 is adapted to be removablyinserted into and removed from the receptor 10 as hereinafter described.

The receptor 10 is provided with a fiat base 12, along the sides ofwhich are a pair of integral vertically directed side walls 13, theupper ends of which are bent inwardly at a right angle to form a pair oftop walls 14. The top walls 14 preferably extend only partially acrossthe top of the receptor 10, as shown in the drawings. The entirereceptor 10, including the base 12, and side walls 13 and top walls 14may conveniently be formed from a single piece of material.

The top walls 14, side walls 13 and the outer side portions of the base12 cooperate to define a pair of elongated channels 15 which extendalong the opposite I sides of the receptor 10.

Each of the side walls 13 is provided with an elongated slot 16, thelower edge of which is disposed substantially along the midportion ofeach side wall 13. The slots 16 are preferably of equal dimensions andin alignment with each other.

An elongated flat release member 17 having a central hump 17a is mountedfor sliding longitudinal movement along the slots 16. The release member17 extends transversely completely across the receptor 10,

with its opposite ends extending through the slots 16. Each end of therelease member 17 is provided with a small knob 18 or other suitableprotuberance or enlargement which acts to prevent the release member 17from slipping through the slots 16. The knobs 18 also provide fingerengaging means for manual sliding movement of the release member 17longitudinally with respect to the receptor 10.

The spring clip 11 has a flat base 21, at one end of which is anintegral vertically upwardly directed wall 21a. The side edgesof thebase 21 are struck or deflected upwardly from the base 21 to form a pairof spring fingers 22. The spring fingers 22 normally extend upwardly atan acute angle with respect to the base 21. The spring clip 11 ispreferably formed of somewhat resilient material and may be convenientlyformed by bending a single piece of metal. The spring fingers 22 arepreferably substantially equal in width and length to the channels ofthe receptor 10.

The receptor 10 and spring clip 1 l are adapted to be attached by anysuitable means known to those skilled in the art to the opposite ends ofan article for which they are to provide detachable fastening means.

The spring clip 11 is detachably connected to the receptor 10 byinserting the end remote from the wall 21a into the free end ofthe'receptor 10. The outer ends of the top walls 14 of the receptor 10are bent downwardly at substantially a right angle to provide a pair ofintegral stop members 19. As the spring clip 11 is inserted into thereceptor 10, the lower edges of the stop members 19 engage the uppersurfaces of the spring fingers 22 and cause them to be progressivelydepressed. I

As the spring clip 11 is inserted into the receptor 10, the outer end 20of the spring clip 11 extends beneath the release member 17 andfrictionally engages it to move the release member 17 toward the rear orinner ends of the slots 16. The release member 17 accordingly does notprevent or interfere with the movement of the spring clip 11 into thereceptor 10.

When the spring clip 11 has been moved into the receptor 10 to the pointwhere the free ends of the spring fingers 22 are moved inwardly beyondthe stop members 19, the spring fingers 22 are no longer engaged by thelower edges of the stop members 19 and they are accordingly free to moveupwardly by their own resilience until they engage the lower surfaces ofthe top walls 14.

The device is then in locked position and the spring clip 11 cannot beremoved from the receptor 10 because the ends of the spring fingers 22are disposed directly behind and abut against the inner surfaces of thestop members 19 to prevent such removal or withdrawal of the spring clip11.

In order to separate the spring clip 11 from the receptor 10, it isnecessary first for the wearer or user to grasp the knobs 18 of therelease member 17 with the fingers and move both ends of the releasemember 17 forwardly or outwardly simultaneously. As the release member17 is moved, its lower surface slidably engages the upper surface of thespring fingers 22 and progressively depresses the free ends of thespring fingers 22. By the time the release member 17 reaches the forwardor outer ends of the slots 16, it has depressed the free ends of thespring fingers 22 a sufficient distance so that the spring fingers 22can be moved beneath the lower edges of the stop members 19. The springclip 11 may then be slidably removed from the receptor 10 by movingthose members or the parts to which they are attached away from eachother.

It should particularly be noted that accidental opening of the device isprevented by the fact that movement of only one of the knobs 18 will noteffect release of the spring clip 11 from the receptor 10. Thus, even ifeither knob 18 is caught on an article of clothing or 'moved forward bycontact with another object, the

spring clip 11 will still not be released from the receptor 10. Releasecan be achieved only by the simultaneous movement of both knobs 18followed by a separating pressure exerted against the spring clip 11and/or receptor 10.

FIGS. 7 12 of the drawings show a second preferred embodiment of theinvention in which the receptor has a base 52, side walls 53 and a topwall 54 which extends completely across the top of the receptor 50. Theside walls 53 have slots 56 across which extends a release member 57with knobs 58 similar to the release member described above, except thatit has no central hump.

The spring clip 51 has a flat base 61, at one end of which is a verticalwall 61a. The midportion of the flat base 61 is struck upwardly to forma single central spring finger 62.

The outer end of the top wall 54 of the receptor 50 is bent downwardlyat a right angle to form an integral stop member 69. The stop member 69may extend across the entire edge of the top wall 54 or only across aportion thereof.

This embodiment operates in substantially the same manner as the firstembodiment described above, the only difference being that it has asingle central spring finger instead of a pair of spaced spring fingers.

The purpose of the hump 17a in the center of the release member 17 ofthe first embodiment of the invention is to prevent the inner end of thespring clip 11 from accidentally passing above the release member 17instead of beneath it. Such a hump is not required in the secondembodiment because the closed top wall 54 of the receptor 50 serves thesame purpose.

I claim:

1. A clasp comprising a receptor adapted to be connected to one end ofan article to be fastened, said receptor having a base a pair ofsubstantially vertical side walls, a pair of aligned elongatedhorizontally directed slots formed in said side walls substantiallyparallel throughout to said base, said receptor having a downwardlydirected stop member adjacent to its free end, a spring clip adapted tobe connected to the other end of said article, said spring clip having afree end longitudinally insertable into the free end of said receptor,said spring clip having at least one integral spring finger extendingangularly upwardly therefrom, said spring finger having one end thereofadapted to be depressed by and pass beneath said stop member upon theinsertion of said spring clip into said receptor, said end adaptedthereafter to be automatically moved upwardly by the resilience of saidspring finger into locking engagement behind said stop member, and arelease member extending transversely across said receptor and havingits opposite ends slidably extending through said horizontal slots, eachend of said release member having a protuberance thereon disposed on theoutside of said receptor to facilitate manual engagement andsimultaneous sliding movement of both ends of said release member withrespect to said receptor, said release member being adapted uponmovement thereof toward said stop member to engage and move said end ofsaid spring finger downwardly beneath said stop member to permit thewithdrawal of said spring clip from said receptor.

2. The structure'described in claim 1, said receptor being formed from asingle piece of material bent to form said side walls.

3. The structure described in claim 2, said spring fin ger being struckupwardly from the midportion of the base of said spring clip, saidreceptor having an integral top wall, said stop member comprising anintegral por- I wardly to form said side walls and bent inwardly to 0form a pair of top walls extending inwardly from the upper edges of saidside walls to form a pair of channels overlying said spring fingers, anda pair of stop members bent downwardly from the ends of said top walls.

6. The structure described in claim' 5, said release member having anupwardly directed hump adjacent the midportion thereof to prevent saidspring clip from passing above instead of beneath said release member.

7. The structure described in claim 4. said release member having anupwardly directed hump adjacent the midportion thereof to prevent saidspring clip from passing above instead of beneath said release member.

2. The structure described in claim 1, said receptor being formed from asingle piece of material bent to form said side walls.
 3. The structuredescribed in claim 2, said spring finger being struck upwardly from themidportion of the base of said spring clip, said receptor having anintegral top wall, said stop member comprising an integral portion bentdownwardly from the midportion of said top wall.
 4. The structuredescribed in claim 1, said spring clip having a pair of spaced springfingers comprising the upwardly struck opposite side edges of the baseof said spring clip.
 5. The structure described in claim 4, saidreceptor being formed from a single piece of material bent upwardly toform said side walls and bent inwardly to form a pair of top wallsextending inwardly from the upper edges of said side walls to form apair of channels overlying said spring fingers, and a pair of stopmembers bent downwardly from the ends of said top walls.
 6. Thestructure described in claim 5, said release member having an upwardlydirected hump adjacent the midportion thereof to prevent said springclip from passing above instead of beneath said release member.
 7. Thestructure described in claim 4, said release member having an upwardlydirected hump adjacent the midportion thereof to prevent said springclip from passing above instead of beneath said release member.